Explaining the outrage

February 08, 2006|By Chicago Tribune.

Why are Muslims around the world so upset with these cartoons?

The violent and now deadly protests rippling through Asia and the Middle East over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad reflect a larger divide and lack of understanding between traditional Western cultures and Islam, experts say. In the secular world, the debate is about freedom of the press, but to Muslims worldwide, the images are offensive not only because they depict Muhammad as a promoter of terrorism but also because their very existence violates the Islamic tradition forbidding visual depictions of the prophet.

What drives the protesters' anger?

The anger, experts say, stems from long-held and deep beliefs. The Koran, Islam's sacred book, does not contain an explicit ban on images of Allah or Muhammad. But visual depictions of Muhammad or other prophets such as Moses or Abraham are traditionally eschewed in order to discourage idolatry, or worship of an object as a god.

"It's very offensive on many levels and for many reasons, but mainly because it's an attack on the sense of what is most sacred and which cannot be ridiculed," said Inamul Haq, adjunct professor of Islam at Benedictine University in suburban Lisle.

It's customary in U.S. newspapers to have cartoons that poke fun at political and religious figures. What makes these cartoons so offensive?

Much of the anger stems from a feeling among Muslims that their religion is under attack by the Western world, said John Woods, Islamic history professor at the University of Chicago.

"It's not only that the prophet is shown, but it's how he's shown," Woods said. "He's shown as a terrorist, and there is the insinuation that this is the religion of terrorists. Ten years ago, this might have caused a minor stir. But in the aftermath of 9/11, Iraq and the Mideast conflict, this came too close for comfort."

Do all Muslims endorse the violent protests?

No. Many Muslims have expressed dismay over the violence.

"Exercising your speech this way in a violent manner is not helping anyone," Haq said. "It is also not prudent to express anger in this way."

Activists agree.

"When the press decided to make a big deal of it, some people in the Muslim world did something that the prophet would not be proud of," said Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairman of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. "I'm not proud of it."

Why haven't most U.S. newspapers printed the cartoons?

Publications across Europe reprinted at least some of the cartoons beginning in January, partly in a show of solidarity for media freedom.

Most major U.S. newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and RedEye, have not published the cartoons. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran one cartoon in Saturday's editions and was picketed by about two dozen protesters on Monday.

The Tribune chose not to publish the cartoons because editors decided the images inaccurately depicted Islam as a violent religion, and that it was not necessary to print the cartoons in order to explain them to readers.

One of the two most controversial cartoons depicts Muhammad wearing a bomb with a lighted fuse as a turban. The other shows the prophet turning suicide bombers away from paradise because, he says, heaven has run out of virgins to be given to martyrs.

Closer to home

While the caricatures of Muhammad have sparked violence overseas, the reaction in the U.S. has been tempered.

Muslim leaders in Chicago plan to hold discussions about the cartoon this week.

Ahmed Rehab, director of communications for the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he is working to organize a town hall meeting of Muslim leaders to discuss the caricatures and how they could be used to educate the public.

Abdul Malik Mujahid, of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, said his group had called on mosques in the Chicago area to focus Friday sermons on respect for others and how to conquer the fear of Islam.

"These cartoons are part and parcel of Islamophobia," Mujahid said Monday. "On both sides of the Atlantic we find that problem. I think Islamophobia is just as harmful to society in general as anti-Semitism."